Of Biology and Chemistry
by onceuponanevilangel
Summary: Pre-SQ HS AU. Emma Swan hated biology with a passion, but there was something to be said for chemistry.


**So I have this headcanon that teenage Regina would be a total nerd and this happened. Sort of pre-SQ. Maybe I'll continue this at some point, but it can stand alone too. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Emma Swan hated biology with a passion. She actually disliked science in general, but biology was by far the worst. There was nothing to play with, no chemicals to blow up, nothing but notes and Emma despised taking notes. So she just slumped down in her chair, scribbled absently in her notebook, and tried her absolute hardest to stay awake.<p>

Then there was a knock at the door.

The teacher paused in his lecture and walked over to open it. Emma craned her neck, trying to get a glimpse of the new arrival, but the teacher was blocking her view. She could hear, though.

"Ah, good morning, Miss Mills. Your things are still set up on the back counter, I just had to push them back against the wall so that my freshmen wouldn't mess with them."

"Thank you." This voice belonged to a girl, that much Emma could tell, but she didn't know anything else until the teacher stepped out of the way and the girl walked into the room.

Emma had never seen her before. She was sure she would remember if she had. This girl had long, dark hair that fell down her back in a thick braid with a few smaller pieces curling around her face and eyes the color of molten chocolate.

She walked over to the back of the room and dropped her backpack on the floor next to Emma's table.

"Is this chair taken?" the girl asked, gesturing to the empty char next to the blonde.

"Yeah. I mean, no. Yeah. Go ahead and take it."

"Thanks." The girl gave Emma a small smile and pulled the chair over to the counter. She reached toward the back wall and slid eight plastic cups full of dirt closer to the edge of the counter so that she could reach them. Then she reached into her backpack and pulled out a notebook, a pen, and a hard glasses case. She opened the case to reveal a pair of black plastic frames that she perched on her nose before opening her notebook to a fresh page.

"What are you working on?" Emma whispered. The teacher had started talking again and the girl was so engrossed in her work that she jumped when Emma spoke.

"What?" she asked.

"The cups. What are you doing with them?"

"Oh." The girl smiled shyly again and flipped to another page in her notebook. "I'm doing an experiment to observe the impact of different chemicals added to the soil on the growth of bean sprouts."

"For extra credit or something?" Emma asked.

"Oh, no," the girl replied, a faint pink blush covering her cheeks as she twisted a strand of hair around her finger. "I was just curious and Mr. Wilson said I could try it out if I wanted to. I come here during my study hall to check the growth and I um…I should make my observations."

She trailed off awkwardly and let her gaze fall to the floor. She started to turn back to the row of cups, but Emma whispered to her again before she could.

"I'm Emma, by the way. What's your name?"

"Regina," the brunette said. "You should pay attention." She pointed the end of her pen towards the teacher at the front of the room. He was still droning on about mitochondria and completely oblivious to the girls carrying on a conversation in the back.

"Nah, this is pretty boring. I'd rather watch beans grow."

Regina pulled her braid over her shoulder, the motion hiding her smile. Emma scooted her chair closer to the counter and rested her elbows on the surface.

"So explain this to me slowly."

"Well, I wanted to find out how different additives to the soil would affect the beans' growth, so I have my control plant," Regina gestured to the plastic cup marked with a 'C'. And then I have ones with table salt, sugar, baking soda, baking _powder_, flour, sugar substitute, and powdered coffee creamer." As she spoke, she gestured at the cups labeled one through seven.

"Cool," Emma said. "That's pretty interesting. So I take it you're really into science then?"

"A little," Regina admitted with a shrug and another one of her shy smiles. "English is my favorite, but I was curious and I wanted to do the experiment."

"Huh."

"What's your favorite subject?" Regina asked.

"Art," Emma replied.

"Art's good."

"Yeah."

There was a long moment of silence where both girls just stared at each other. A moment in time, and then it was broken as Regina shook her head and made a sound like a cross between a giggle and a sigh.

"I should, um, get back to my, uh, my plants," she stammered.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Emma muttered. "I'll let you get back to that."

Regina shifted awkwardly for a second and then turned around to start recording whatever data she was collecting. Once she was done, she stood up, put her glasses and notebook back in her backpack, and slid her cups to the back of the counter again.

"I'll see you later?" she whispered to Emma as she slid her chair back to the table.

"Yeah, I hope so," Emma replied with a smile. Regina smiled back, tucking a stray section of hair behind her ear. They held each other's gaze for almost a full minute and then Regina turned away. She nodded briefly at the teacher before hurrying out of the room.

Emma Swan hated biology with a passion, but there was something to be said for chemistry.


End file.
